UTEP Men’s Golf Shoots Three Under Saturday, Finishes GCU Invite Tied for Third

PHOENIX – The UTEP men’s golf team (281-282-281—844) tied its season low with another 281 in the third round.

The Miners shot up two spots and penciled in a top three finish in the GCU Invitational at GCU Championship Golf Course (par 71/7,200 yards) Saturday afternoon.

The Miners (-8) tied with Missouri (281-282-281—844) and finished one stroke behind second-place team UTRGV (285-275-283—843). UMKC (282-271-276—829) ran away with the championship after firing a 23-under par.

UTEP chalked up its third top-five finish of the season and first of the spring session.

UTEP senior Aaron Terrazas (71-71-66—208) penciled in a 66 on Saturday (tied for lowest third-round score), surged up 19 spots and tied for seventh place with three other golfers, including teammate Oskar Ambrosius (68-69-71—208). The pair each shot 5-under par and finished three strokes behind co-champions UMKC’s McCain Schellhardt (69-68-68—205) and Columbia’s Derek Kim (70-67-68—205).

Overall, the Miners combined for 53 birdies, the third most behind UMKC (58) and UTRGV (59). Terrazas tied for second overall with 15 birdies, while Ambrosius recorded 11 birdies. Cole Donielson (75-74-70—219) tied with the most pars (42) during the two-day event.

Terrazas registered six birdies on Saturday afternoon. After recording his only bogey at hole no. 9, Terrazas rattled off four birdies on his final 11 holes. Terrazas struggled a bit on Friday, tallying nine bogeys the first two rounds, but rebounded with a solid Saturday performance.

Terrazas shot a 6-under par on par 5 holes during the weekend (tied for best score with three other golfers).

Ben Getman (73-71-70—214) finished tied for 30^th, while Settavut Paradee (73-71-74—218) and Eduardo Gonzalez (69-75-74—218) placed tied for 54^th. Getman recorded 35 pars while he and Gonzalez each registered nine birdies.

Friday’s second-round action with suspended due to darkness. The second round was completed Saturday morning as play started at 7:45 a.m. PT.

Up next, the Miners will get a short break when they travel up the road to Tucson to compete at the National Invitational Tournament hosted by the University of Arizona. The two-day event will begin with 36 holes on Monday, March 18 at the Omni Tucson National Resort on Catalina Golf Course (par 72/7,262 yards).

Golfstat Link.